Xbox One and PS4 Tomb Raider sequel already “well into development”

Square Enix has confirmed that a next-generation Xbox One and PS4 sequel to Tomb Raider is already “well into development”.

Any Tomb Raider fans hoping to see Lara Croft jump onto the next-generation consoles will be pleased to hear Square Enix has been beavering away on a sequel for quite some time.

Building on the success of the Tomb Raider reboot released in February, there will be a sequel arriving on the Xbox One and PS4 sometime in the future.

Phil Rogers, CEO of Square Enix in Europe and North America revealed the Tomb Raider sequel in an open letter.

“Square Enix is in production with a number of next generation projects, including Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3, which were announced at this year’s E3, and Thief coming in 2014,” said Rogers. “I am also excited to reveal that we are well into development on a next-generation Tomb Raider sequel – something you may have heard about recently.”

Rogers fails to reveal any further details about the Tomb Raider sequel, including whether it will be an Xbox One or PS4 exclusive or any whiff of a release date.

The open letter also reassured Square Enix fans and employees that the developer was still committed to producing AAA games. This was in light of the recent announcement that the company had posted a net loss of $134 million (£88.2 million) for the last fiscal year.

“I can categorically say that we’re not abandoning core, triple-A console and PC games,” said Rogers. “We’re working hard at improving how we develop our games and how we release them and I want to explain that in a little more detail.”

The developer is still going to be creating games like Tomb Raider, which enjoyed fantastic launch success, selling 3.4 million copies in four weeks, but still managed not to break even with production costs.

“We’ve recently re-orientated our studio leadership to focus production expertise at the top, to allow us to ship the best quality games possible, faster and with better cost control. We’ve taken away administrative duties from studio heads, so they get closer to the games, gameplay and gamers with fewer distractions.”